The
Sony Walkman, a popular portable music device in the '80s that
dropped into obscurity in the '90s , is back on top again -- in
Japan.

A survey by the Tokyo-based marketing
research company BCN Inc. indicates that Sony -- which had
consistently placed second to iPod -- placed first for the month of
August.

Sony’s share of the market for digital
music players beat
out Apple with a 47.8 percent market share last month, while
the iPod captured 44 percent according toAFP and BCN.

"This
is the first time that the Walkman outsold the iPod in monthly
sales," said BCN analyst Eiji Mori.

BCN has been tracking
monthly MP3 player sales in the country since 2001. Sony was
able to walk away with the lead for one week in September of 2001, but fell short for the month. Sony
gained momentum in May with the release of its new Walkman S
line. Mori speculated that consumers were holding off on buying an
iPod ahead of the release of its newest generation.

"Sony's
strategy to market relatively affordable products may have also
contributed to the turnaround in the ranking in market shares,"
Mori added.

The
iPod is expected to recapture the market again soon. The highly
anticipated, latest version of the device was revealed
this week, but Sony could remain a contender for the top
spot.

The company also had a revelation this
week. Sony announced its plans to introduce new digital music
service Music Unlimited. The service will stream music over the
internet to Sony TVs, PS3s, Blu-ray players and other devices.

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There are plenty of reviews out there. They have one of the best sounding players on the market, battery life and build quality in the higher range models. The higher end also comes bundled with a nice set of headphones that also do noise canceling.

uhh no. I have an $80 pair of Klipsch Image S4s and I definitely notice how "off" some players sound. My ipod touch is the weakest sounding player while my Sansa clip+ does a better job and my Cowon D2 wins hands down. No need to spend that much.

You just proved my point. Okay, they aren't 500 bucks, fine. But they sure as hell are upgraded. Do you think any of these MP3 players come with an $80 pair of sound isolating earphones? Hell no. You UPGRADED!

The Sony upper range players come with good headphones, enough so that most people don't get rid of them. Most other manufacturers ship $5 buds even with their high end players.

Even still I did use the phones that came with the D2 and plugged it into the iPod, D2 and clip+ and guess what? I noticed how each player sounded different from each other with the D2 again winning hands down.

On my pair of Grado SR80i's I can easily hear the differences between players, clear as day. For that matter, I can clearly hear the differences between sound cards on different computers as well. Forced me to upgrade from my Creative SBLive 24-bit to an HT Omega Claro+. World of difference! They're also $100, not $500.

More to your point, you can easily find a pair of Creative EP-830 earbuds on ebay for under $10 including shipping that offer sound that is head and shoulders above what the white iPod earbuds give you. And, using those, you will immediately appreciate a better-quality sound from your mp3 player. When you compare an iPod with something like like a Cowon D9, iRiver, Sony or Creative Zen, even with the $10 Creatives, you will appreciate just how poor the SQ of the iPod is.

"Small" size. What is that? That's not dimensions. Surely there's a difference between the iPod nano and 1Gen iPod. Both are small. In today's world every millimeter counts.

quote: 2. lightweight

Again "lightweight" is vague. Every ounce counts - you especially notice it while running with it in your hand.

quote: 3. long battery life (20+ hours)

Every mp3 player has 20+ hours of battery life? Really?... really?

quote: 4. visible screen

In sunlight? Really? They don't have a glare and they're all using LED?

quote: 5. decent storage size (4gb+ )

4GB is laughable. If you call that decent, you aren't listening to music and you most definitely aren't listening to lossless burns. 32GB holds 10% of the lossless music I want to store, which doesn't even include movies or tv shows. 300GB would be better in my pocket. -- and weight/size has a funny way of making a mention again, funny how comparing the storage matters.

quote: Your other mentions software and hardware features aren't becoming of an mp3 player. I'd use my phone for that. Besides, those unnecessary lead to an inflated cost.

I have to say, I wasn't planning on disagreeing with your total response, but it seems like that's happening. Software and hardware ARE important. Show me only an MP3 player today. My watch and sunglasses are the only things that just play MP3s, everything else can play movies, show pictures, etc.Hardware IS important especially when comparing it to different devices - that's what put Apple in 1st, the touch-wheel.A lot of software code is reused and companies only need to charge more if they see fit. Google seems to make it look costless to the the consumer.

quote: What is the mp3 player's primary role? Playing music.

I agree.My home speakers plays music, though. My turntable plays music. It doesn't mean there aren't other things to compare.

We all know that only one thing really matters when comparing a popular Apple device to a non-Apple device.... does it have an App Store? Battery life comes second. If it has neither of those then it seems to flop every time. Seems like the SE Walkman has battery life going for it.

I gave my niece and nephew Sony mp3 players 2 Christmases ago. They were 1/2 the cost of an iPod - about $60/each. I think the ones I got them were 8G. You can drag/drop mp3 files on them which made it real easy for them to use. Only bad thing was that supposedly you can watch video on them, but I could never find anything that would convert it to exactly what the Sony player needs. All the forums I search couldn't either.

Depending on how you use it, even with really good in-ear monitors you won't notice the difference 90% of the time. The only people who might are those who use their PMP as their primary media player and listen in a quiet, relaxed environment. Other than that you won't notice the difference in SQ between well-made PMP when you're in a car or on a plane, when you're jogging or even walking on the street. Even HiFi PMP's like this one...http://www.head-direct.com/product_detail.php?p=72...won't make a difference unless you're willing to sit down and actively listen.

Like you said, for most people sound quality for a PMP is a complete non-issue, unless there's something really objectionable. It's not what they're designed for.

"We are going to continue to work with them to make sure they understand the reality of the Internet. A lot of these people don't have Ph.Ds, and they don't have a degree in computer science." -- RIM co-CEO Michael Lazaridis